The Radavist

Oregon’s Big Country and the Steens Mountain
Photos and words by Gabe Tiller

Nick had never been to the Steens. It’s not his fault — they’re closer to Boise than anywhere that anyone’s actually heard of in Oregon. They’re technically just one weird mountain, not a range. Steens Mountain is one of the ten highest summits in Oregon but you can drive to the top. It stretches for 50 miles north to south, but the snow dusted eastern flank drops 5,000 dramatic feet to the contrasting Alvord desert lake bed, known for its hot springs and land yacht races…

Vacation. Holiday. 3-day weekends. From Memorial Day until Labor Day, the road is wide open and the sun is putting in overtime. Taking advantage of those days is key to sucking the last drop from life and its possibilities.

Last summer, I bought a 4 banger Tacoma pickup in Portland and it kickstarted a whole series of road trips. Most of which centered around cycling-related themes or events but it was the interstitial spaces and moments that I remember vividly. Sunsets, sunrises, rain, fog, wind. All of these had a specific scent and sensation. Most of which were captured visually throughout those long summer months.

I carried my Mamiya 7ii with me on every trip, loaded with Portra 400 220 film. It wasn’t until recently that I finally sat and dug through it all, compiling a Gallery of these moments and vignettes. They’re mostly in the correct order, beginning in Portland and traveling down south.

A lot of these spots are well-known, others not so much but they all serve one purpose: to inspire you to travel to the West Coast and see what you’re missing. Pardon the succinct nature of this intro, but there’s not much to say. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

The JB Racer may be Breadwinner’s flagship MTB but it’s far from anything new for Ira Ryan and Tony Pereira. When the two framebuilders decided to join forces to create the Breadwinner label, Ira Brought his knowledge of road and cross bikes to the table, while Tony weighed in on the MTB game.

Truthfully, the JB Racer is a continuation of the way Tony Pereira has been building cross-country mountain bikes for years. Named after Jeff Bates, one of Tony’s best friends who died from skin cancer, the JB Racer is a true to form XC race machine. Racing mountain bikes is where Pereira Cycles first made an appearance and Jeff Bates was one of the first to race under the brand.

When Breadwinner formed, Tony used his singlespeed MTB as inspiration for the JB Racer and here we are today. This and the Bad Otis offer two sides to the MTB coin. After we shredded Brown’s Camp last week, I shot some photos of Ira Ryan’s personal JB Racer. While there’s more to come from that day, I really wanted to showcase this bike on its own.

If you’re interested in one of these machines, the JB Racer starts at $1795 for a frame.

Check out more in the Gallery!

Well, we’re here in Los Angeles, after four days of pedal to the metal driving down Highway 1 from Portland to Los Angeles. The Pacific Coast Highway is one of the nation’s most popular bicycle touring routes and unfortunately, that also means it’s one of the most popular RV / Camper / no-clue how to drive windy road tourist destinations.

Ok. Seriously. Now it’s a vacation. Nothing against hanging in cities but it’s damn stressful trying to get around and see all your best buddies. Well, a different kind of stress, especially when compared to driving with the windows down and music blasting down some rad gravel road with no one in sight. That’s stressful.

Lauren and I spent the day on a route I planned out to take us from Portland to the 101, without getting on any major highways. It ruled. Then, a wreck happened on the 101 and we had to take a 50 mile detour. That didn’t rule. Getting to eat at the Local Ocean in Newport, Oregon made up for it though.

I didn’t shoot a lot of digital today, because I’m shooting medium format, but I did get a little trigger happy at a nice little beach spot before we called it a night.

Check out some in the Gallery!

When Erik and I committed to riding the Oregon Outback, we didn’t want to absolutely kill ourselves, but we wanted it to be tough. On paper, 360 miles is totally doable in three days without crushing your spirit. Hell, I think we could have done it in two and we still would have been ok but that’s not the point.

I had a responsibility. One that I take seriously and that’s documenting this trip. Granted, most of the time, I didn’t want to stop to shoot a photo, or hop off my bike, I just wanted to keep going…

The second day of any big ride is usually the toughest. Your body just assumes it’s going to be on the defensive for an unknown amount of time and begins to push back. Usually, that is. For Erik and I, we awoke in the Silver Lake Community Park f-u-c-k-i-n-g freezing. The weather said it would drop to 45 degrees as the low, so he and I brought hammocks and 40 degree bags in the interest of space and weight.

At 4am, my phone said it was 28 degrees. A cold front had moved in.

I was shivering uncontrollably, had I known it was going to be that cold, I would have brought a sleeping pad and a tarp, both of which I’ve used to alleviate the loss of body heat that happens in hammocks at such low temperatures. But alas, you reap what you sew. We would be cold on this trip.

All our field guide said about mile 120-240 was that we’d be crossing altitude desert and would be without water for up to 80 miles. I brought an Arundel Looney Bin to hold a 48oz Nalgene, which, after making breakfast, I filled up. Along with my two large Purist bottles. We had to get moving. Fast… It was 6:30am.

Continue reading in the Gallery captions.